Skullthrob

It comes on so slowly I barely notice, and when I do notice the pain is pretty dull and I tell myself it'll go away if I take some rest, or if I ignore it, or if I drink water, or if I get some exercise, but the pain only intensifies until I'm trying not to budge because every little movement turns the throb into a stab.
Every sound, every light, every movement in my line of vision, is another stab.  The vibration from using my own voice exacerbates it.  It feels like I've taken a baseball bat to the forehead, or a Sisera-style stake through the temple.  Ibuprofen may or may not touch it.
Ironically, the almost-subconscious attempts to keep still to avoid more pain, put the neck muscles into spasm which aggravates the headache.
If I knew what starts the pain in the first place, I could avoid it.  Since I don't know what sets it off, I hesitate to commit to anything because I don't want to have to back out or to fake my way through if I get a headache.  I would love to spend the day with a friend, have company, go shopping, take a class, or volunteer, but if a headache comes on in the middle of it, I'm finished.
The headache itself is bad enough, but when it finally leaves--whether it's the next day or three days later--I feel weak and wobbly like Jell-O and I usually have several days' worth of catching up on housework and paperwork piled up that I couldn't get through while my head was pounding.  I'd love to delegate, but who else knows how to pay my bills or run my household?  And who has the time?
Last night I was blessed enough to have my husband home and not too tired to clean up the kitchen for me after dinner so I didn't have to excavate the counter tops before breakfast this morning.  Today I was blessed enough that ibuprofen knocked the ache back.
Headaches have grown less frequent.  Nine months into adrenal fatigue recovery I'm happy to report that I'm no longer freezing cold all the time, I'm generally sleeping well at night, and I'm able to get up in the mornings.  I haven't had a migraine since I quit working under fluorescent lights every day.  (The migraines were even more fun than these headaches.)  I focus on those advances when I'm struggling with body aches, joint pain, shortness of breath, sudden sleepiness, abdominal cramps, heart palpitations, excessive sweating, muscle fatigue, brain fog, eyes burning, sinus pressure, the now-rare headache, or other adrenal-related symptom.  I have hope.